CatholicCulture.org - Commentary on the Culturehttp://www.catholicculture.org//commentary/otc.cfm
Insightful, expert Catholic commentary and analysis on the culture.Picking up papal themes: Discernment and accompanimenthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/G-zyoEI3MW0/otc.cfm
<p><em>Discernment</em> and <em>accompaniment</em> are buzzwords now in Catholic circles, and that&rsquo;s not surprising. Key themes sounded by each pontificate are picked up quickly throughout the Church as ways of focusing Christian witness in whatever manner the Holy Father believes needs special emphasis. So it was with John Paul II&rsquo;s focus on the &ldquo;culture of life&rdquo; and Benedict XVI&rsquo;s concern about the &ldquo;dictatorship of relativism&rdquo;.</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/G-zyoEI3MW0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 16 Mar 2018 13:58:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1542What is the law? When can we ignore it? Part 3: Natural Lawhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/oRsVALsNAVs/otc.cfm
<p>The money question in this series on the nature of law is: &ldquo;When are we morally obliged to disobey a law?&rdquo; The answer is: &ldquo;Whenever it commands us to take an action which is morally contrary to the natural law.&rdquo; As in the preceding two installments, we recognize that such an enactment is not really a law at all, since it is not a precept of reason in accordance with the natural aw, which is the formal cause of all law. Instead, it is an enactment masquerading as a law.</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/oRsVALsNAVs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 13 Mar 2018 17:05:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1541What is the law? When can we ignore it? Part 2: The Common Goodhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/3JAq_QL284M/otc.cfm
<p>In Part 1 of this article, I tried to explain that what we call a law is actually not a law if it lacks one of the four causes necessary to create a law: (1) Public promulgation, by (2) the proper authority, in order (3) to effect the common good, and taking the form of (4) a precept of reason in accordance with the Natural Law. But I also noted that human enactments which do not have all four causes will still often be called laws, and even those who oppose them may well call them &ldquo;bad laws&rdquo;. My point was they are not laws at all, which is the main reason we may morally disobey them. It is now time to look at how and when this is so.</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/3JAq_QL284M" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 09 Mar 2018 15:42:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1540What is the law? When can we ignore it? Part 1: True Lawhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/ByfAZXtNLS4/otc.cfm
<p>Civil authorities make many bad laws. This is an inescapable part of the human condition.</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/ByfAZXtNLS4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 06 Mar 2018 13:21:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1539Random reflections on public shootings and ultimate safety in our timehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/ezgCpxkiCco/otc.cfm
<p>We can all agree that it is a Very Bad Thing when crazed or terrorist gunmen unleash volleys of lethal bullets against school children, churchgoers, and the general public. But after that, in America at least, the agreement ends. Some argue that it should be harder for people to get their hands on automatic assault weapons (though not all such episodes involve such weapons). Others argue that more private citizens should be armed so that an assault can be terminated (relatively) quickly (as happened in a late 2017 incident at a Baptist Church in Texas).</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/ezgCpxkiCco" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 26 Feb 2018 16:52:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1538Two strong women of the Old Testament: Second, Estherhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/FuUF62UgZW8/otc.cfm
<p>The Book of Esther is set in Susa, the capital of Persia, which is ruled by one King Ahasuerus, who has power of life and death over all the communities of Jews who had settled in his territory during the exile. But unlike many in the kingdom, Ahasuerus has good reasons to think well of the Jews. The prominent Jew Mordecai had uncovered a plot to kill the King, which was foiled by the information Mordecai provided. Moreover, the King had deposed his Queen, Vashti, because she did not take his commands seriously, and when he scoured his kingdom for her replacement, he settled on Esther, who was not only a Jew but had been raised by Mordecai (being his uncle&rsquo;s orphan).</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/FuUF62UgZW8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 22 Feb 2018 14:22:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1536Two strong women of the Old Testament: First, Judithhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/SCsvOaaK1Mk/otc.cfm
<p>Heroines are not lacking in Scripture. In addition to others whom we meet in the various texts, whole books of the Old Testament are devoted to Ruth, Judith and Esther. Eve too is a heroine in her own way, as of course is Mary. In this series on the books of the Bible, it is time for a look at the two women highlighted during the post-exilic (Second Temple) period, Judith and Esther. They are thought to be largely fictional exemplars set against a historical background of serious danger to Israel.</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/SCsvOaaK1Mk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:35:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1535Benedict XVI&rsquo;s gift to priests: The ministry people really needhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/v7uApuWbxOs/otc.cfm
<p>I didn&rsquo;t realize it at the time, but the remarkable embodiment of the priesthood by Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) was a great gift to priests. Thanks to a collection of his homilies for chrism masses, ordinations and other occasions, this is a gift that keeps on giving. While I have no interest in &ldquo;reviewing&rdquo; the book, I do want to describe the essential nature of the gift.</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/v7uApuWbxOs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 09 Feb 2018 12:18:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1534Have good and evil changed? The Pontifical Academy for Life wants to know.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/hbVpg04zKKQ/otc.cfm
<p>In recent weeks we have seen two presentations by members of the Pontifical Academy for Life which suggest that the very nature of good and evil has changed. Surely others could be cited, but I refer to a newly appointed member of the Academy, Maurizio Chiodi, who argued that <a href="http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=34859" target="_blank">contraception is sometimes morally required</a> (despite Pope Paul VI having defined contraception to be intrinsically evil within marriage); and to a recently appointed corresponding member of the Academy, Gerhard Hoever, who asserted that <a href="http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=35232" target="_blank">the term &ldquo;intrinsically evil&rdquo; is too restrictive</a> to be theologically useful.</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/hbVpg04zKKQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 02 Feb 2018 09:31:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1533Karl Keating: In the vanguard of Catholic renewalhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~3/Kbvs6sZjdnc/otc.cfm
<p>In writing his new 239-page memoir, <em>Booked for Life</em>, Karl Keating has done a great many things well, but I would like to begin by praising a deceptively small feature. How could something as simple and effective as a page-marking ribbon have disappeared from nearly everything but prayer books? <em>Booked for Life</em> has a red ribbon sewn into its binding. It is a typical act of responsibility for this author to send his brain child into the world properly clothed.</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CatholicCultureBlog_OTC/~4/Kbvs6sZjdnc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 26 Jan 2018 09:46:00 GMThttp://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1532